Wings of Fire - The Dark Animus
by theuone
Summary: Magiah has finally left Pyrrhia, and now everyone can relax. Or not. The purple menace has left something deadly behind, a Nightwing animus with no soul to lose. What's worse is that this dragon is bent on destroying the world. How can the heroes beat a dragon with powerful magic and a lack of mercy? (sequel to The Personality Shift)
1. a new threat emerges

(well folks, didn't I tell you, I am so feeling the flow with my recent progress. So, I introduce to you my newest story, Wings of Fire - The dark Animus (exclaims over-dramatically). Hopefully, this will be just as thrilling as the last one, but I do have hopes that this will be longer, for TPS, I had the events of each chapter already planned out, but this, naw, I've still got some ideas to work in. Well, without futher adu ...)

Chapter one – a new threat emerges

It was just a week after Magiah left Pyrrhia, and everyone was happy. However, back on the Nightwing volcano, something was stirring. Dark clouds were gathering above the barren ground, and the wind was blowing hard. All of a sudden a lightning bolt struck the ground and a chasm opened up, revealing a buried Nightwing.

The Nightwing stirred, "At long last, I have returned." He stretched his aching limbs, the silver scales under his wings glowed. However, they did not glow with light; they glowed with an absence of it, which made those scales look not at all like silver. His dark purple scales were a shade away from being black, and his eyes were purple.

The Nightwing spoke to himself again, "Brother, it's time I avenge your death, the Doombringer shall make sure of that.

Doombringer flapped his wings and rose out of the chasm; a couple streams of lava were flowing anew thanks to the lightning bolt.

Doombringer landed on the ground with a thud, and looked around. Using his animus powers, he could feel the bodies of many dragons that were dead on the island. "Perfect, I have slaves." He laughed manically. He then proceeded to channel his power throughout the volcanic island, and many of those dead dragons rose again anew; all under his control.

The two days later, Thorn sat on the rocky ground glumly, earlier that day, she had gotten word of problems surfacing all over Pyrrhia via the dreamvisitors. And now, she, Glory, Coral, Moorhen, Glacier, and Ruby were meeting to discuss the topic at Jade Mountain. They had made it there so soon thanks to Stonemover and Anemone creating more wormholes to each Queens' palace.

_I suppose Magiah did some good after all; curing Stonemover and Anemone, and giving them to ability to not lose their soul when they use their magic._ Thorn thought to herself.

"Pyrrhia to Queen Thorn! Are you there?" Glacier asked sternly.

Thorn shook herself out of her thoughts, "Ah sorry Queen Glacier, I was just thinking. So what are we going to do about the deaths on our border? There aren't really any clues as to who did it." Thorn felt a twinge of embarrassment from getting distracted during the meeting, hopefully she wouldn't have to do this many more times.

The six of them had also decided to always add "queen" when speaking their name as well to show respect, even though they were still equals and could have skipped using their titles.

"Well, that is a something that we can't determine. The suspect doesn't leave behind any defining clues." Glacier said, but then she added, "Except for the talonprints of a Nightwing. Or so I think."

"I don't think they are any of mine. We Rainwings have kept them within the Rainforest." Glory said with a smudge of arrogance; thanks to the fact that Rainwings were finally being seen as equals in Pyrrhia.

"And you're not the only one with a dead dragon in your borders. We've found some too." Ruby replied, looking at Moorhen and Coral.

"Is that same purple dragon responsible?" Coral asked.

"No, I used the Obsidian Mirror on him, and he literally said "Whatever is it, I'm not responsible," so, yeah." Thorn answered.

"Are you sure anything that creep says can be trusted?" Ruby asked suspiciously.

"Well, he hasn't lied yet." Glory spoke up, "Anyway, all thoughts aside for him, we should ask our subjects if they've seen anything weird."

"Then let this meeting be adjourned. Let's all go now." Moorhen announced.

After the others left, it was only Glory and Thorn, "So how has Sunny been?" Glory asked, "She hasn't really visited within the last several days."

"She's alright. You remember when I told you about that charm, the one that that purple pain left behind? Well, Sunny has been enjoying talking to Flower; it's still disturbing, knowing those small creatures are just as smart as us." Thorn said, her tail twitched, the barb on the end made a spark on the ground.

Glory chuckled, "Well, that's to be expected from Sunny, always making friends."

"She was already a friend with that scavenger before then, but now, it's … strange. I don't think anyone could have guessed that prey could put a good conversation." Thorn continued on, wondering just why things were so quickly getting stranger and stranger in Pyrrhia.

"Well, I'll talk to you later; better make sure no one did anything stupid while I was gone." Glory said, thinking of the Nightwings.

Thorn walked over to the Sandwing tunnel, which was among one of the six tunnels placed evenly in the circular cave, the usual crawling sensation was felt as she walked through and entered the palace. She exited the tunnel in the formerly-known tower that was once Burn's collection. She had gotten rid of all of Burn's things once she had taken up residence at that palace.

Once she closed the door to the tower, she was greeted by Addax, and she frowned.

After his stunt with kidnapping Sunny, he was not her favorite dragon that was still alive; and yet, Sunny's words remained fresh in her mind, he did it for his family. Perhaps it was for the best; after all, if Sunny didn't make it to the palace when she was kidnapped, she wouldn't have made friends with Smolder and Flower, and then they probably wouldn't have uncovered the Eye of Onyx.

"Hello, Your Majesty, so how was the meeting?" Addax said as nicely as he could manage.

Thorn continued to frown, "Skip the pleasantries, has anything happened?"

Addax let his smile fade away, "Alright, well, there hasn't been much of anything, except for a couple complaints about the scavenger.

"And that's all?" Thorn asked, stretching her wings to take in more sunlight, the warmth comforted her.

Addax then frowned too, "You won't be forgiving me anytime soon, will you?"

"Not until you can prove your loyalty." Thorn answered.

Addax sighed, "Alright." He then left Thorn and headed off towards the barracks.

Thorn flew the short distance to the door inside the palace, and almost collided with her daughter, "Sunny! Talk about timing, I wanted to talk to you."

"Wow, Mother, didn't expect to see you back already." Sunny replied, but then Thorn saw something sitting on her shoulder; it was Flower. Whose appearance made Thorn nearly sigh, especially since Sunny was wearing the translation charm.

"For creatures that are so big, you certainly have trouble seeing what's under you. We almost got ran over." Flower protested.

Thorn tried to ignore the scavenger, whom was making use of talking to dragons as often as possible. Despite being easily aggravated, Flower could at times be a kind creature. As far as Thorn could tell, the only thing bad about Flower was her comments, which weren't very common, just on certain occasions.

"Well Sunny, it seems that the deaths still don't have much to go on. Except that the talon-prints belong to a Nightwing." Thorn said, eying Flower to see if any comments would come.

"You don't think it's one of Glory's do you? She wouldn't let them do something like this." Sunny said with worry.

"No, she told us during the meeting, her Nightwings have been stuck inside the Rainforest the entire time, and the wormholes are under surveillance." Thorn replied.

"I guess dragons and danger can't separate easily." Flower said sympathetically from on top of Sunny, her little paws holding onto Sunny's horns.

Seeing the scavenger gave Thorn an idea, "Sunny, I think we might have a way to find the culprit."

"We do? How?" Sunny asked curiously.

"We send in a spy. A very small spy." Thorn smiled, giving Flower a look.

It was a look that informed Sunny and the scavenger instantly. "Not Flower!" "Not me!" Sunny and Flower said simultaneously.

"Either of you have a better idea?" Thorn asked with a hint of skepticalism.

"Perhaps a decoy could catch this dragon." Flower suggested.

"That's not a bad idea. Though we'll have to think about it more." Thorn found herself hating the fact that Flower had a good idea.

A decoy was what Glory had used to get herself captured by the Nightwings before learning about them. Even though that plan backfired a bit, the Nightwings were, from then on, discovered.

"Come on you two, Flower, you might just be useful yet." Thorn walked with her daughter and the scavenger to the throne room, and began forming a plan to catch this new enemy.

(so what do you think so far, any ideas or such? I feel as if I'm missing something, oh yeah, as for previously made reviews for TPS and TPS Fail, well mostly for TPS Fail, sorry, tis was just a one-shot, so there won't be any continuation on that version of events.)


	2. operation: scavenging decoy

(well folks I've finally got this episode done. hmm you know what? I had another name for this chapter but I forgot it, oh well. Also, as I previously told mysteryreader6626 in a review, I was talking about WOF TPS Fail for being the one-shot, although, I might, just might continue on for that storyline, though not relatively soon. oh, and wow, WOF TPS has reached over 2,200 views, so thanks you all for reading that, TDA shall not disappoint ( I hope). oh, one last thing, I will be working on a WOF one-shot and will post that before working on the next chapter for this. Enjoy.)

Chapter 2 – operation: scavenging decoy

Sunny was flying towards a scavenger ruin, and was carrying part of a decoy that she, her mother, and Flower made. It was the day after Thorn had talked with them about catching the killer, and they eventually decided on a plan. The three of them (with help from other dragons, some involuntary), had created a dummy of a dragon made out of cattails and straw from the Mud Kingdom, fruits from the rainforest, and other stuff around Pyrrhia. Sunny had also improved on her mother's idea to use a scavenger as a spy; since Flower refused to be their spy; Sunny had to go to the two remaining candidates; Holler and Fluffy. And so that was why she was flying towards the ruins where she last saw the two.

Sunny looked down at the passing forests; it was all a blur thanks to Stonemover's newest charm. After being told the plan, Stonemover had opted to make a temporary charm to help the user fly faster. It was temporary due to the fact her father had only given it a small dose of his magic, fearful that too much would be harmful, and also, the charm would have its magic used up within a days' time. Which was why Sunny was now able to make several trips back and forth from the palace and the ruins. Like most of the charms nowadays, it had some string so it could be worn; and from that, it was knocking around with the translation charm, of which would be a crucial part of their plan, seeing as how the two scavengers had yet to be introduced to the magical reality that was part of their world.

Sunny had just finished setting down the tail-section of the straw decoy when she heard a rustling sound in some bushes. Holler and Fluffy must have been spying on her, it was time to begin!

Thanks to the translation charm, she could hear what the tiny animals were saying, "Hey, isn't that the one dragon who wanted all of our treasure?" Sunny guessed it was Fluffy talking.

"Yeah, that's the same one; those scales must be made out of gold with how they shine. It's a wonder why dragons still want all of our remaining valuables, they already have enough." Holler replied, sounding a bit sour.

"Well, I think this dragon just wanted a certain thing, not including that sapphire when she first showed up. She did seem unhappy when she looked through our sacks and didn't find something." Fluffy commented.

"She? How do you know the dragon is a she?" Holler said in a demanding voice.

Sunny 'hmped', she was insulted! Holler was practically saying that she was a 'he'. Then a thought came through her mind, it was time to give these two a crash course on life from the other side of the food chain. Sunny waved her tail in delight; this was going to be hilarious.

Sunny cleared her throat before she spoke up, and replied in a very regal tone, "Excuse me, but I'm deffinantly a dragoness. Or, if you don't know what that means, I am a girl dragon."

Sunny turned around to see the expression on the two scavengers' faces, and it was just as she imagined; complete shock and surprise. Sunny giggled at how it turned out.

"Dragons can talk?" Holler said, dumbfounded.

"As much as you can, thanks to this little magic charm, we can hear each other." Sunny explained, showing the two the purple stone, "It's just as special as the dreamvisitor, which is the sapphire I got from you."

"So what do you want?" Holler demanded.

"Your help, Holler and Fluffy." Sunny was about to continue, but Holler interrupted her.

"That's not our names." Came the scavenger-formally-named Holler's reply.

But then the scavenger-formally-named Fluffy spoke up, "Well, think about it, before now, she didn't know our real names. Also, you do kind of yell a lot."

"I do not! And what about you, with all of your hair?" Holler protested.

Sunny cut the two scavengers off before they could go into another argument, like in the old days before she could understand them, "Come on you two, enough." Sunny put her tail in between the bickering scavengers, "You really don't need to give me your real names, these ones work just as well, and it would be a bit confusing to have to remember both names.

"So, what's this about needing our help?" Fluffy crossed his arms.

"Well, there is this dragon going around killing other dragons, so me, I'm Sunny since you don't know, my mother, and some other friends have made a plan to capture, or at least see, this killer. It involves this decoy, and someone to keep watch." Sunny gestured to the pile of decoy parts.

"You want us to spy on some psychotic dragon? What if he eats us?" Fluffy asked, fear and surprise mixed in his voice.

"Don't worry, if you're quiet enough, this dragon might not even know you're there." Sunny tried to calm the scavengers. "So, how about we get this decoy ready?" She then went on to get their minds off of that problem.

It didn't take them long to assemble the dummy, set it up, and then for Holler and Fluffy to find a hiding place. Sunny herself left the two to stake out the hopefully possible crime scene; she sure hoped that the dummy was a good likeness for a Sandwing if one looked at a distance. Sunny, using Stonemover's charm, made it back to the palace in just a few hours. Then, she told her mother about their progress; all they had to do now was wait.

The next day, Sunny rose from her bed, and remembered that she was going to check on the decoy. Looking around the sand-lined den, she saw Thorn lying down a few feet away. Stretching her legs, she walked over to her mother and woke her up.

Half-asleep, Thorn mumbled, "What is it?"

"Mother, I'm going to check on our plan, hopefully it worked." Sunny replied, and then she took Stonemover's charm from a shelf where she had put it before going to sleep. It should have just enough magic for two more trips.

"Try not to take too long, the other queens want to know if it worked." Thorn replied.

Sunny nodded, and headed outside towards the ruins where Holler, Fluffy, and the decoy were. Thanks to the charm, the landscape was a blur as her flying reached sonic speeds; she slowed down as she came near to the ruins. The first thing she noticed was that the ground looked even more scorched than before, several trees had fallen, and what's more was that the dummy had been shredded. Sunny grew happy at this, it must have meant that the scavengers seen it, well, unless they fled. Sunny listened closely, she could hear whimpering coming from the tree line.

Sunny walked over and looked down to see Holler and Fluffy crying and they kept on saying, "Darkness, darkness, darkness," over and over again, they didn't even seem to notice she was there.

Sunny then noticed a pattern in the scorch marks in the ground, they were words, from which she gasped in horror, it read:

"_Hello foolish dragon, you shouldn't have tried to spy on me, you won't succeed. Your dummy was a pathetic attempt and was wasted. And as for your scavenger friends, they next time they try to escape from me, I will eat them. Or anyone else for that matter. Signed, your worst nightmare."_

Sunny found herself trembling, this was not good. Whoever this dragon was, they meant business. She turned back around to Holler and Fluffy, whom were still completely consumed in their terror. Regretfully, she turned back in the direction of the palace and left. Her mother and the other queens needed to know; this dragon wasn't like Magiah, he was worse.


	3. reunions

(Miss me much? I do apologize for the extensive wait, but I can assure you this is not dead, I'm just very busy/distracted. This chapter is really just a filler for my OC's as I get this story back on track. Well, enjoy)

Chapter 3- reunions

Polar felt bored, out of all of the things she could be doing, it had to be listen to a queen tell her that she had to travel with someone else and find some psychotic dragon.

"I need you two, Polar and Chill, to investigate the border of me and Queen Thorn's land, there might be a possibility that the dragon is hiding there." Queen Glacier ordered.

"Alright." Polar said grudgingly; it was not her favorite thing to be ordered around.

"Dimissed." Glacier said after that, and spread her wings.

Polar flew off first, not waiting for her Icewing companion. And when Chill yelled out for her to slow down, she said, "Why don't you keep up?" She didn't slow down one bit.

Only when she landed on some snow did Chill finally catch up. Exhausted, he said, "You have got to be the most dislikable Icewing around, why is that?"

Polar jerked back, "And why do you care?" She asked coldly.

"Because if I'm working with you, then we need to be at an understanding." Chill answered calmly, his tail swayed in the same manner.

"I don't just open up to anyone," Polar snapped at the other Icewing, "and even then, I still don't open up to the people that I care about." Polar continued to walk, crunching snow and ice under her talons.

"So you care about people? Who?" Chill asked curiously.

Polar turned her head to stare in Chill's eyes, "Some dragons I grew up with. Now drop this conversation, or I'll drop you … off a cliff."

Polar's threat didn't faze the other Icewing, "Someone's grumpy." Chill said in a sing-song-like tone.

Polar simply sighed, an icy mist escaping her snout. Why did she have to get stuck with a Rainwing wannabe? The two Icewings continued to trek through their home, searching for a sign of the dragon responsible for the recent events.

Meanwhile, Desert listened on intently, not wanting to miss a single detail. The Sandwing queen Thorn was telling him and his new friend Cacti about a mission she had for them.

"Sunny's report was disturbing, so I and the other queens have decided to send out groups of two to search for this new dragon." Thorn said sadly.

Desert nodded, understanding the situation, "And you chose us for this? Alright, so when do we leave?"

Thorn gave the younger Sandwing a curious look; he was definitely a smart dragon, much like Starflight, "Well, right away would be nice." Thorn sighed as the two other Sandwing's left the throne room; today was not her favorite day. Ever since Sunny returned after the decoy failed, her worries about this strange dragon increased. Dragons had continued to be killed all around Pyrrhia, and sill not a single clue could be found as to who killed them. "Whoever this dragon is, we need to find him, and fast."

As Desert was walking outside, Cacti unfurled her wings and asked a question, "So which way do we go?"

"I think we should go check the Sandwing-Icewing border, we might find something there." Desert replied thoughtfully.

"Alright, so, do you think this dragon is connected to that other dragon? The one who did some kind of weird magic to Sunny and the others." Cacti asked curiously.

"Well, I doubt that there would be any other possibility." Desert mused over the thought, "Maybe we'll find something important."

"Well, so long as we don't actually encounter this dragon, he or she sounds really dangerous." Cacti replied.

"Don't forget about our tail barbs, I'm sure we can handle whatever happens." Desert held up his tail to show his forgetful new friend.

"R … right, I always forget about it when I'm worried." Cacti replied sheepishly.

"Well, hopefully we will make some kind of discovery, oh what knowledge awaits us." Desert said wistfully.

In the Kingdom of the Sea, Algae sighed, the last thing he wanted to do was search around the islands for a dragon. However, he had no choice, seeing as how the Seawing queen had told him to do it. Normally, Algae wouldn't mind having some alone time, but seeing as how he couldn't be alone, he hated this.

"I have a question for you; do you think I'd make a good spy?"

Algae looked at the dragon who he had been partnered with; Riptide, whom was looking around the dark cave they were in. "I don't know. Why do you ask?"

Riptide looked around dreamily, "Ah I just remember the old days when Tsunami would meet me in here, she didn't agree. But then again, she hardly ever seems to agree, that's what makes her so unique."

Algae let out a small chuckle at Riptide's romantic comment, "She is rather assertive."

Riptide looked at Algae, "Hey kiddo, ever have any thoughts about a certain Seawing?"

Algae jerked back, "No, I'm not interested in anyone, not like that. Anyway, I'll check this way." Algae pointed to his left, wanting some time to himself.

"No can do, Queen's orders. We can't split up." Riptide replied, his gills fluttered at a hidden thought.

"Ahh, fine." Algae sighed, "So what are we going to do now?"

"Well, we will check this way." Riptide said, emphasizing the 'we' part.

Algae dipped his head down, wishing that he didn't have to investigate these islands. It was more of his friend's favorite job. But seeing as how he was likely on the other side of Pyrrhia, there wasn't going to be any help from him. Desert had always been there to help Algae out, but now that they had went their separate ways, Algae felt lonely.

Meanwhile, Slate looked up in the sky anxiously. Ever since hearing about the mysterious dragon that had been killing dragons all around Pyrrhia, he felt worried for his adopted family's safety. Out of the seven of them, Slate was the last to agree to them traveling alone, and now, he was certain that it had been a bad idea.

Despite being an "unsib" as the other Mudwings called him, Slate had been forced to attend a meeting that Queen Moorhen called. The Mudwings were being told about how they couldn't go anywhere alone, and that anyone without a sibling or friend would be paired up with someone. Slate had been paired up with another siblingless dragon named Bayou.

"So how'd your siblings die?" Bayou asked, a bit sadly.

Slate was surprised by the question and jerked back, "Uhh, sorry, but as far as I know, I don't have any true brothers or sisters. I hatched with six other dragons on this one island somewhere and I've lived with them until we came here. We parted ways soon after arriving." Slate explained.

"Lucky you." Bayou said sadly.

Slate instantly figured out that Bayou must have lost his family in the Sandwing war. Silently, Bayou started walking in the direction of the coast, so Slate followed. The Mudwing's soon spread their wings and continued on, neither dragon saying a word, which made Slate feel bored. The long flight got him thinking about how to cheer Bayou up; it wasn't good to spend the rest of your life sulking.

After a while, Slate started noticing Bayou glide downward. At first he thought the other Mudwing was getting tired, but then he noticed that Bayou was also slightly veering right. Slate decided to see what Bayou was up to and stayed at a distance. Eventually, Bayou landed on a cliff and stared out at the sky.

Slate decided to break the silence, "So what brings you over here?" He asked curiously.

Bayou jumped in surprise and frowned, "Alone time."

"Well, you know that we're stuck together. If this unknown dragon finds one of us alone, we're most likely dead." Slate replied, wondering why Bayou wanted to be alone right now.

"I almost want that dragon to find me. I could finally be reunited with my family then." Bayou mumbled, although Slate heard him.

Slate was appalled at his statement, "You don't actually think dying would help, do you?"

Bayou let out a growl, upset that Slate was getting involved with his life, "I failed to protect them, I don't deserve to be the last one alive."

Slate felt concern for his new friend and decided that Bayou needed help getting over this depression. "I take it you were the bigwings of the group?"

"Yes," was all that Bayou said.

"Well, dying won't be the answer. The queen's need all the help they can get to stop more dragons from dying, will you help?" Slate asked passionately.

Bayou sighed, "All right."

"Good, I have a feeling this won't be easy." Slate looked up in the sky again.

In the rainforest, Beauty woke up from her daily sun time and stretched her wings. Shifting her colors to rose pink, she took flight and headed off to get some fruit to eat. She had made it a habit to eat fruit after waking up. Looking down from a tree, Beauty saw another Rainwing walking towards the arbortorium. Curious, she decided to see what was happening, followed the other Rainwing, and eventually saw a crowd forming. Glory was on her platform, tapping a claw impatiently.

After a while, Glory spoke up, "I hope everyone it here, because it is my duty, as the queen of a rather lazy tribe," Glory mumbled that last part quietly, "to inform all of you that from now on, no one can be alone while going somewhere."

"What does that mean?" Someone from the crowd asked.

Glory sighed, "It means that everyone has to have someone at their side at all times. There is a dragon out there that is killing dragons from every tribes, so that means that in order to have a greater chance to survive, everyone need to be seen by someone else."

Beauty wondered what this was all about, so as the other Rainwings started to leave to go about their daily activities, she glided over to the queen's hut.

Peeking inside, she saw that Glory had sat down to relax, and so Beauty said "Uh Queen Glory? Mind if we talk?"

Glory looked at her curiously, "Sure, you may want to make it quick though, Deathbringer's due to interrupt any minute now." Glory chuckled at that.

Beauty shared a laugh, "I've heard. Well, what exactly is the deal with this dragon killer?"

Glory's eyes narrowed, "It turns out that someone, somewhere, has been murdering dragons. In order to reduce the chances of being killed, me and the other queens have decided that no one can be alone until this dragon is caught."

Beauty's scales shimmered a blue-gray color hearing this, "That sounds dreadful, this dragon that is. Does anyone have an idea about how to catch him or her?"

Glory sighed, "Well, Sunny and Thorn thought a decoy of sorts would help, but apparently this dragon is smarter than that. I'd figure something out, but I've been too busy keeping the Nightwing's in line, and making sure no one does anything stupid."

"I see, well, I'm sure we'll catch this dragon." Beauty said optimistically.

Glory almost smiled; Beauty was reminding her of Sunny, "So, is that all you came here for? I should get going to the Nightwing camp."

"Mind if I come with you? I think I've got an idea about how to help out." Beauty replied, her orange eyes peered into Glory's.

"Alright, you don't seem like you're the lazy type of dragon." Glory replied after thinking, _maybe she could help out, she seems just like the type of dragon I need in this tribe_.

(So what do you think about my OC's and such? Also, there will be a part two for this chapter.)


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